Eakins Ideas
Several commentaries in today's Philadelphia Inquirer. First, lawyer
Dan Larkin suggests a compromise:
"Philadelphia supporters should offer to contribute a negotiated
portion of the $68 million purchase price for these terms:
"Philadelphia ends legal efforts to prohibit the painting's move,
efforts that would absorb large sums, earn the enmity of a major
medical school at the heart of our major economic growth engine
(health care), delay the 'transformational' benefit promised from the
sale's proceeds, and raise awkward questions for museums that acquire
works of art that also 'resonate' in their home cultures.
"In return, The Gross Clinic is displayed at the National Gallery and
in Arkansas in a setting designed to ensure the painting powerfully
proclaims its Philadelphia provenance to millions of national and
international viewers annually. Text and photographs would complement
the painting's illumination of the city's technical and cultural
preeminence. Evidence of the city's leading role in 19th-century
medicine would be placed in the context of the continuing preeminence
of our medical schools, hospitals, and pharmaceutical and biotech
firms.
"The painting returns home as honored guest and centerpiece for
festive occasions marking major events central to the city or Eakins."
Art historian Marie Naples Maber says let it go: "I lament that this
masterpiece may leave the city where I trained and have enjoyed the
arts for more than 30 years. But I also understand that a broader
perspective can be revealing. This painting has hung at Thomas
Jefferson University since 1878. It was accessible to art-lovers
through a telephone call and a reserved visit. If 500 people per year
is all the audience such a world-famous work could muster, what
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